


Senses

by chinesefirethorn



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 10:44:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1507619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chinesefirethorn/pseuds/chinesefirethorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An exploration of Lee and Gaara's relationship through the five senses, progressing over the years. Lee/Gaara</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Touch

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Loosely follows manga timeline. Will probably experiment with different writing styles for each chapter. :)  
> Begins in the interim between Sasuke Retrieval Arc and Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Interim between Sasuke Retrieval Arc and Part II

  
It was a simple touching of hands.

Fleeting, almost an imitation of a cool breeze caressing his skin. He felt his face heat up. The pale hand retreated while his eyes followed its path, sliding up the length of the arm. _His_ eyes were on him. Their gaze met in silence.

"Your skin is rough."

It was Lee who looked away first. "Ah…yeah. Training can make your skin like that. And since I use my hands a lot, they became a little calloused." He flexed his bandaged hands. There was still a weight pressing down on him. That was normal, though his teammates probably wouldn't think so. These days, his friend had taken to watching him- stalking even. This wasn't the first time he touched him either. But he was…okay with that. More than, actually.

He could see the roof of the Hokage's office, and a little beyond that, the silent faces carved on earth. The last rays of moonlight cast shadows over the deceased rulers' features.

The feeling of sadness took longer to leave than when it came. Lee wondered if Gaara would have a monument in Suna someday. 'Probably. He is the Kazekage,' he reasoned, 'Then again…'

The image of Gaara's intense gaze looming over the sand dunes made him smile. Gaara's unnerving stare was something he'd come to terms with over the months. It seemed like forever since he'd last been afraid of those eyes. Frankly, Lee found the younger boy's expressions- or lack of, refreshing. Sometimes, they made his blood rush.

The weight beside him shifted and the pressure eased up. He turned his head back to him. Gaara had pulled his knees close to his chest, arms wrapped around them. He was looking at his fingers. "Tell me, Lee. What does it mean to touch?"

After making sure his pulse had returned to normal, Lee scratched his cheek as he spoke. "Well, we're friends. And touching is proof that we care about each other!" He believed in being affectionate. Touch was a good form of showing you care about someone, especially one who was leaving in the morning.

His raised thumb received the brunt of Gaara's stare, causing it to tuck itself between his other fingers.

But…

From Gaara's dissatisfied look, it didn't answer the _other_ question. Lee turned away from him and sighed. How was he supposed to answer that without being subjective?

A small part of him resented having to second-guess the undertones in Gaara's words. On the other hand, it felt special to constantly be expected to know what was on his friend's mind. It's certainly better than being underestimated. Which brought his thoughts back to the question.

He may not be a genius, but he did recognize the signs. He hated himself for that. It would have been easier to remain ignorant, because he wasn't totally sure. Because it would hurt if he was wrong. He didn't think he could stand being broken for the second time by the same person.

The brief silence passing between them was interrupted with the morning call of a bird. Lee sat up. The first rays of light struck Hokage mountain. Soon after, a faint glow stretched out through the village and reflected on clotheslines and closed windows. The sun was already rising but he still couldn't find the words. He was running out of time-

"Can it mean more?" The words were almost inaudible.

The distant tinkle of a bell rang through the air, and everything snapped into place. Lee used to think that when this moment came, the world would rejoice with him. That somehow, everything he'd done would lead to acceptance, to happiness.

The sounds of a waking village broke the remaining silence. He couldn't bring himself to look at Gaara. He didn't trust his face to show the right emotion. Below them, civilians and shinobi alike greeted each other 'Good morning' and went about their businesses. A few children ran by, laughing. It was both less than and more than the one hundred-percent perfect moment.

Here, on the roof of his apartment, his hand enclosed another's. It was the return grasp that made him capture the other in a tight embrace. "Yes."

A simple touch and a promise.


	2. Smell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Shippuden setting, pre-Gaara's abduction by the Akatsuki.

Slowly, insistently, the smell of it seeped through the haze. His hands were curved into claws- still open, still granting a space for breath and a chance at life. Gaara's fingers twitched before tensing, slowly closing and relaxing in miniscule movements.

They had stopped struggling a while ago, slashed hitai-ate bands glinting under the sun as they were held still by the hard, packed sand around them, and the fear Gaara could smell in their sweat, in the abrasions and cuts they'd sustained, in the blood seeping into his sand. It was intoxicating.

 _This is what you live for,_ the whisper came. _They would look good torn to pieces. Suna is far away and no one will question you._ _Not now, after all this time._

_How long has it been since you've dipped your hands into blood-drenched sand?_

The smell came again. Stronger this time, as the angry hiss of his sand began to ebb away, and Gaara felt the edges of his awareness expand just as he inhaled heavily to fill his oxygen-starved lungs. Only then did he turn his head towards the source of it.

Lee smiled at him, round eyes unusually hooded as the other man pulled his bandaged hand back from his shoulder. Gaara caught the last whiff of antiseptic and medicinal balm- sharp and aromatic -before another layer of sand rolled over his face, hiding the tight grit of his teeth.

Lee whirled around, his back close enough for the Kazekage to touch, as he held up a fist towards the five Suna shinobi around them. "Yosh! That was a glorious battle that we fought together, my precious allies! Surely no rogue nin will attempt another theft for weeks! I am so happy to be of assistance while my mission allows me to be in this foreign land!"

Cutting through the tension with a laugh, Kankuro shook his head and manipulated Kuroari to take the retrieved scroll into its belly. "Shit Lee, with the number of missions you've taken here, I'm beginning to think Konoha wants you to stay in Suna."

"Haha! Or they may just want me to share the youthful teachings of the wise, and handsome Gai-sensei with you!" Lee replied with a grin, hands resting on his hips and his elbows jutting out on either side of his chuunin vest.

The banter went on as Gaara wordlessly stood up from his crouch and began tightening the sand around the two men's noses and mouths. He could taste the cool mint of Lee's shampoo this close, almost masking that of the dried streaks of blood over Lee's knuckles and arms.

"-has been a true challenge for me to withstand the heat-!"

"Lee."

That was all it took for the man in front of him to jump aside, immediately flashing him a thumbs up. "Ah! Sorry Gaara-kun, I was getting carried away!"

Gaara shifted his gaze from Lee towards Kankuro's second-in-command, stepping forward and depositing the now unconscious men at his feet. "Kankuro, take them back for interrogation, and find out how they got past. I need a report on our archive security." He crossed his arms. "This will not happen again."

"Leave it to us." Kankuro nodded, smirking once at Lee before he and his team bowed and headed off towards the village.

There was a moment of silence before Lee spoke beside him, "You have not given me my orders, Gaara-sama."

Accepting the gentle admonishment, Gaara moved to stand right inside the other man's personal space, and the warm arms coming up to circle readily around him. Shutting his eyes, he could make out, just faintly, traces of curry, aniseed and tumeric from Suna's spice market hovering on Lee's clothes. There was sage, from the incense they lit at the temple at noon, and in the bathing oil Temari stocked at their residence. There was musk, sweet and familiar as the shape of Lee's shoulders; his green jumpsuit taut against his muscled frame. "Touch me."

He stayed still when Lee's palm pressed warmly against the back of his neck, stroking through his hair before moving their faces closer. He stayed still even when Lee began planting soft, fleeting kisses over his closed eyelids, forehead and cheeks; the dampness of a shy tongue tracing over the press of his lips as his sand slid off in patches.

Breathing in, he would respond to all of that, in a moment, when he had finished reminding himself of what he now lived for.


End file.
